


cheeks

by fernic



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Wisdom Teeth, and hinata with puffy cheeks is the best, they kiss a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 01:51:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7555495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fernic/pseuds/fernic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata’s cheeks are swollen and puffy, like he's holding a deep breath underwater, or like a toddler that still has their baby fat. It makes him look younger, like he’s back in junior high, and yeah, he kinda does look like a chipmunk, Kageyama won't lie. </p><p>or: Hinata has his wisdom teeth removed. Chubby cheeks and poking fingers and a lot of kissing ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cheeks

**Author's Note:**

> ya girl got her wisdom teeth taken out, and this was just a dumb idea that I decided to write out to give myself a little boost out of writers block.

When Hinata doesn’t show up at school on Wednesday morning, Kageyama finds it a bit odd that he’s the only one who’s really concerned.

Of course Tsukishima wouldn’t care, because he’s a total asshole who would probably just shrug if his dog died, but the other teammates, Kageyama thinks, should be worried. Daichi was supposed to ask Kageyama where Hinata was during morning drills, since usually Hinata is racing Kageyama from the bike racks to the locker rooms, tearing off his clothes the second he passes the gym doors, whipping his shirt in the air and at Kageyama like it’s a weapon. But that never happened.

Suga should also be concerned about Hinata not being at school. But he isn’t, just gives Kageyama a confused glance when he asks and quickly walks away. Kageyama goes to approach Tanaka and Nishinoya, but they’re too busy wrestling on the gym floor and getting tangled in a volleyball net to listen to his question. Asahi starts trembling the moment Kageyama turns to look at him, so Kageyama figures it’s best to stop worrying and just get on with morning drills already.

(He can’t stop, though. The entire morning practice is filled with anxious glances turned his way and he hates the way his hands shake a little every time he tosses the ball.)

In the hallways, Kageyama manages to catch up to Yamaguchi. He pulls him the the side of the hallway, jostling and shoving other students in the process.

“Have you seen Hinata?” Kageyama asks when they’re relatively out of the way, and Yamaguchi just tilts and shakes his head.

“No, he’s getting surgery-”

“SURGERY?!” Kageyama yells, and people around them in the halls jump up. Some girls yelp in surprise and a few shoot Kageyama dirty looks. He bows down and apologizes, and Yamaguchi just snickers. “Surgery?” Kageyama repeats, but this time it's a whisper-yell.

“Yeah, for his wisdom teeth,” Yamagotchi says, slowly like he's talking to a grade schooler and wow, Tsukishima really rubbed off on him, didn't he?

“Wisdom teeth?” Kageyama asks. He’s heard the term before, but can't remember the context. Yamaguchi just blinks.

“You know, the teeth that grow in?” He asks, and Kageyama rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, adult teeth. The ones that replace your baby teeth,” he says, because he isn't an _idiot_.

(Yamaguchi thinks otherwise.)

“Well, yeah, but _after_ that,” Yamaguchi says, and he opens his mouth wide, pointing to the very back of his mouth at the gums. Kageyama flinches away.

“Ew, no?”

“Well four teeth come in, and they hurt. That's why you get them taken out, so they stop hurting,” Yamaguchi says, and he rolls his eyes. “You know, Hinata _has_ been complaining about pain this past month. You didn't notice?”

It's true, now that Kageyama thinks back.

While they ate lunch together, Hinata would wince as he bit down, or if he got hit in the face with a ball during practice, it seemed to hurt him a bit longer than usual. Kageyama didn't really think anything of it; just Hinata being a dumbass and complaining. Now, though, Kageyama is thinking about it, thinking about if it's hurting him more, or if he’ll be able to play volleyball, or if he’ll have freaky scars on his cheeks or if he’ll talk weird or-

“He’ll be fine, seriously, stop wrinkling your forehead like that,” Yamaguchi says, and he looks around as if checking around. The hallways are deserted, and Kageyama realizes the bell must have rung while he was thinking about Hinata. He’s about to walk off, not be so late to his class when Yamaguchi pulls him down a bit so he’s level with him. 

“Tsukki had his removed in junior high, which is really early, but they showed up earlier than usual,” Yamaguchi says, eyes still darting around as if Tsukishima will come and grab him any minute. “He got, like, really out of it after from the pain meds he was on, and his cheeks swelled a lot, which was pretty cute, but anyways, he’s fine, so Hinata will probably be back by next week,” he finishes, and he pulls back with a satisfied smile. 

Kageyama just blinks in shock, though he isn't sure if it's because Yamaguchi just called Tsukishima cute (gross), or if he’ll have to deal with Hinata being gone for a few days. 

He isn't frozen for long, because he can hear a teacher's footsteps coming down the hall, and both him and Yamaguchi run for their classes before they get given detention slips.

|||

Practice is weird without Hinata.

It isn't something Kageyama has just noticed (Hinata gets sick a lot), but this time it seems to be stronger, because this isn't just a bad flu or illness, it's three whole days of Hinata being gone. He hates thinking about it, because Kageyama doesn't like the weird empty feeling it puts in his chest when he looks to his side and doesn't see Hinata smiling at him, or sticking his tongue out, or putting up a peace sign while making a silly face. He hates thinking about it, because it makes him feel weak, which is stupid and unreasonable, because of course he should miss Hinata at least a little bit- he’s his closest teammate, partner, friend, whatever they are- but Kageyama still doesn't think he should miss him as much as he does.

He misses tossing to Hinata, hearing his sneakers squeak across the court as he sprints and jumps. Kageyama misses the way he gets to watch Hinata spike his toss, how he jumps up and slams his arm down and makes the ball speed down to the opposite side of the court with such speed and strength that Kageyama swears it isn't real, and it makes Kageyama's heart speed up just thinking about it.

It's stupid, he thinks as he changes to go home, how much he misses the idiot.

On the way home, he accidentally walks around the long way to the bike racks, only to remember that Hinata isn't with him too late. Old habits die hard, he guesses.

He passes the convenience store too, and buys an extra meatbun (habit). He figures he can stop by Hinata’s house anyway, fill him in on what he missed during practice, maybe tell him that Tsukishima also had his wisdom teeth removed so they can make fun of him together, maybe toss the ball to him if he’s feeling up to it.

Kageyama is still listing things they can do together when he reaches Hinata’s door. He knocks, once, twice, reaching out to do it a third time when the door opens.

No one's there, but Kageyama looks down and sees Natsu, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Her mother is right behind her, smiling at Kageyama. Kageyama doesn't smile back (he doesn't want to scare any of them), just gives a curt nod and bows.

“Is Hinata home?” He asks, “I brought his homework.” It's a lie, he didn't even think of doing that, but he figures the best chance of actually seeing Hinata would be to give him work. Hinata’s mother just smiles and points to his bedroom, then scurries off with Natsu in her arms, probably to finish tucking her into bed.

Kageyama steps inside the house. He’s been in Hinata’s house before, usually when the weather is too bad or dangerous for him to stay home, or that one time where he accidentally fell asleep on Hinata’s couch while they studied for English. It's a nice house; small and clean, with family pictures and artwork hanging over every wall and doorway. It's different from Kageyama’s home, which is bare and modern and too big for a family of three.

Hinata’s room is also a place Kageyama has been to a lot.

He's studied here, snuck food in here, gotten scolded with Hinata by Hinata’s mother when she found crumbs on Hinata’s bed sheets. They've also done other things in Hinata’s room too, secret things, like kissed a few times, held hands and cupped cheeks and mastered pulling away and pretending to be reading when they heard footsteps coming to the door. He doesn't like thinking about it, about the things that no one really knows about, because those things make him blush a lot and he has to stuff them down to the really back part of his mind before he can breathe and function normally again.

He knocks on Hinata’s door. There's no answer, at first, and Kageyama is thinking that he might as well just stuff the meatbun in the fridge and leave it for whoever finds it first when there's a groan and a crash behind the door.

Hinata opens it, and Kageyama doesn't know what's wrong at first. Hinata is looking at him, but he's… weird. His eyes are big and glazed over, and his mouth is open and filled with white cotton and he's bleeding.

“Kage...Kageyama?” Hinata asks, and Kageyama doesn't really know how to answer. Hinata sounds really weird, all groggy and slow and funny. His mouth doesn't really close with all the gauze stuffed in his cheeks.

“Yeah. You missed school, dumbass,” Kageyama eventually says, and Hinata just stares at him.

“They took out my tooth,” he says, but it sounds like _whay gook ouf my footh_. And then he reaches up, touches Kageyama’s cheeks and then his own and starts crying.

Hinata’s mother comes out when she hears Hinata’s wails, and covers her laugh with her hand while gently moving past Kageyama and pushing Hinata into his room. He tries to fight it, moans Kageyama’s name in a way that has Kageyama’s heart beating three times faster than it was previously.

“I got him, don't worry. Thank you for coming, I'm sure Hinata appreciates it somewhere under this drug haze,” she says, and she quickly rushes Hinata inside his bedroom and tries to stop his crying. Kageyama just waits there for a few seconds before he walks to the fridge and puts the meatbun inside. Then, he zips up his jacket again and lets himself out.

|||

The next day isn't much better. 

Kageyama gets to school the time he usually does, and has nothing to do for a good twenty minutes. Usually, he and Hinata meet up early to practice one on one together, or help each other answer homework questions, or sometimes they'll steal a kiss or two behind a storeroom.

Without Hinata, Kageyama just sits outside the gym doors and triple checks his math homework, which he knows won't really do him any good because he guessed on all these problems anyways, and no amount of reading them over will get them to make sense in his head.

His mind keeps going back to Hinata, with his big stuffed mouth and slow speech and cloudy eyes. Yeah, it was weird, but thinking back to it, it was oddly charming. He was cute, like a small toddler, confused and crying and adorable. His phone buzzes in his pocket, and he closes his notebook and pull it out.

**Sender: Dumbass**  
Receiver: You  
Oh my god… My mum told me that I cried in front of you… Oh my god 

**Sender: Dumbass**  
Receiver: You  
Please don't tell me you have a video of my crying while clutching my cheeks I will die Kageyama 

**Sender: Dumbass**  
Receiver: You  
Btw my mum says you dropped off homework but you didn't? Can you please stop by again today and leave it by the door? My mums gonna freak if I end up behind because of four stupid teeth 

Kageyama laughs at the first two, and now that he thinks it over, be really regrets not pulling his phone out and snapping a picture of Hinata yesterday. It would have been funny to show the picture to Nishinoya and maybe Tanaka, too. 

At the last message, his heart (annoyingly) speeds up.

Morning drills are the same as the previous morning. It's the same stretches, same receive practices and serves against the wall, but without Hinata, the energy is down a little bit. Kageyama doesn't think he'd notice it, with the way Nishinoya and Tanaka are still all hyped up, how Tsukishima is snarky as usual, how Daichi and Suga are still smiling and running drills and planning strategies. Everything is normal, except Kageyama keeps thinking of puffy cheeks and bloody gauze and missing teeth and it's distracting, honestly, because of course Hinata has to be an idiot and fill his head with distracting thoughts and an aching heart.

By the end of the day, Kageyama has a heavy bag full of two loads of homework and a volleyball. He takes out his phone and sends Hinata a quick text message, telling him he’ll drop off his homework tonight. His phone vibrates no less than a second after his message is delivered.

**Sender: Dumbass**  
Receiver: You  
Just leave it by the door 

Kageyama just stuffs his phone in his pocket and pretends he didn’t read the message. 

Hinata’s house is strangely dark when he walks up the driveway. There isn’t a car parked, so maybe his mother went out, or maybe no one’s home. Either way, Kageyama walks up to Hinata’s door and rings the doorbell. No one answers, and there isn’t any yells from behind the door that indicates anyone's home. Kageyama bends down to leave the homework by the door like Hinata asked when a curtain shifts in the window.

Behind the door, peeking behind a curtain covered with flowers and vines, is Hinata, watching Kageyama and trying to duck away the moment Kageyama catches his eye. Kageyama stands up straight again, holds the homework under his arm and walks over to knock on the window pane.

“Open up, I’m not just leaving it outside,” He says, and he can hear Hinata groan from inside. A few seconds later, the lock on the door is turned and the door swings open and HInata steps outside.

Kageyama doesn’t know what he sees first.

For one, Hinata looks miserable. He’s frowning and in his pajamas, which don’t even fit him; the pants are rolled up messily and his shirt is backwards, the tag sticking up and tickling the front of his neck. If that isn’t ridiculous enough, he’s holding two bags of frozen peas against his cheeks and glaring at Kageyama as if it was him who yanked his teeth out. 

“Don’t even say anything,” Hinata says, and that’s the second thing Kageyama notices. Hinata’s voice is different, his words and sounds kind of slurred together, like the cotton is still stuffed in the back of his mouth. It doesn't really help that the peas are against his cheeks and pushing his lips together in a small pout.

It's cute, something that Kageyama knows he’ll remember no matter how hard he’ll try to forget it, and Kageyama hates the way he wants to reach forward and poke Hinata’s cheeks himself and kiss the pout right off his face.

He takes a deep breath and tries to stop thinking as he follows Hinata inside to his bedroom.

“Where’s your mum?” Kageyama asks.

“At a friends house with Natsu. I'm supposed to be sleeping,” Hinata responds, and he sits on his bed and groans into his pillow. Kageyama stands there for a few seconds before adjusting the contents of Hinata’s desk. 

There are empty glasses and cups crowded around a bottle of Advil and a prescription of some kind, along with a few empty bowls that seemed to have been filled with ice cream. Kageyama shifts the cups to the side and finds a place for the homework. When he looks back, Hinata is sitting up, rubbing small circles into his cheeks. The frozen vegetables lay beside him on his bed, and Kageyama moves them aside and sits.

“They're really big,” Kageyama says, and Hinata just glares.

“I _know_ ,” he snaps. Kageyama has to hide his smirk as he watches Hinata clutch his face. “It's like I'm a chipmunk, or something.”

Hinata’s cheeks are swollen and puffy, like he's holding a deep breath underwater, or like a toddler that still has their baby fat. It makes him look younger, like he’s back in junior high, and yeah, he kinda does look like a chipmunk, Kageyama won't lie. But it's _cute_ , and it's something only Hinata could make cute, like the way Hinata makes going to the bathroom into a song, or how he makes everything a race (they both do), or how he makes every shitty situation into something a little bit less shitty. It's the way Hinata acts that makes his puffy cheeks into something Kageyama finds charming and endearing.

“Can I touch them?” Kageyama asks, and Hinata’s eyes widen a little bit. His fingers stop massaging circles into his cheeks, and slowly, Hinata lowers his hands into his lap.

“Fine. But don't poke them, it hurts a lot,” he says eventually, and Kageyama thinks about doing just that, but realizes that he doesn't really want to be kicked out just yet. Instead, he does what Hinata was doing, raises his hands and gently rubs circles into the corners of Hinata’s jaw. 

“They're soft,” Kageyama says, and he prods a little harder with his finger. Hinata just whines, and Kageyama rolls his eyes before continuing to make circles into Hinata’s skin. It's quiet between them, the only real sounds being the little hums Hinata makes and the creaking of the bed as he turns to face Kageyama better. 

“What was the surgery like?” Kageyama asks eventually, and Hinata opens his eyes. Kageyama didn't even realize they were closed.

“I didn't feel anything, but I wasn't knocked out. The laughing gas they gave me made me cry,” he answers. Kageyama’s hands aren't on his cheeks anymore- Hinata pulled them away so he could talk and now he holds them absentmindedly between them while he speaks. “But the nurse says it affects everyone differently, and she wiped my tears while they stitched me up, so she was nice. Oh, and I got a cool keychain!” Hinata stands up and jumps to his desk, where he digs through his drawers and shoves papers and pencils aside until he eventually digs out a keychain. It's pretty freaky, if you ask Kageyama, because the teeth that hang off the metal ring look way too realistic for his taste, but Hinata doesn't seem the least bit freaked out as he holds it out for Kageyama to hold.

He does freak out, however, when Kageyama grabs Hinata’s arm and almost causes him to topple over. 

Kageyama pulls Hinata’s arm up close to his face and looks right in the crevice of his elbow. There's a bruise, big and red and blue and purple, and Hinata winces when Kageyama pokes it gently.

“What’s this from?” Kageyama asks, and Hinata tries to pull his hand away.

“The IV! Let go, it hurts, idiot,” he says, but Kageyama doesn't let go, just pokes and prods at it more until Hinata is whining and whimpering through his swollen cheeks, the keychain dangling. Then, Kageyama bends down and presses a kiss there, right in the crook of Hinata’s elbow, and presses his face there to hide his smile when Hinata squeals, surprised and barely audible and the keychain falls from Hinata’s hand right into the space between them.

“What'd you do that for?!” He whispers, and Kageyama shrugs. He pulls away from Hinata’s arm and Hinata lets it drop to his side. “Thought it’d stop it from hurting.”

For a second, Hinata is frozen, his mouth open and Kageyama wants to warn him that he's gonna drool if he doesn't close his jaw, but then he's kissing Hinata and he doesn't even remember Hinata rushing forward. 

Hinata pulls back quickly, giving a sharp breath and standing up straight again with a pout. 

(It's adorable. Kageyama doesn't want to admit it but it _is_ and he can't help it. Hinata’s cheeks are full and his lips are pushed out and Kageyama is disgusted with how much he wants to kiss him again.)

“Well it didn't work,” Hinata says, and Kageyama bites back his smile and rolls his eyes.

“Trial and error,” he says, and Hinata sits down again and folds his legs beneath him before turning to Kageyama again.

“You can try again, though,” he says, and if Kageyama wasn't blushing already, he definitely is now. His words don't come out right, all jumbled and slurred like Hinata’s when his mouth was full of gauze, and his thoughts are scrambled up too.

Kageyama stops trying to answer and just kisses Hinata.

They've kissed before. Small ones, short and quick in empty halls, or long and heated in the middle of study sessions that never really went anywhere. Kageyama has tasted Hinata on his tongue more times than he wants to admit, and every single time he’s left just as breathless as he was the first time they kissed. It’s a good feeling, a warmth that seeps through him and makes him want to kiss Hinata again and again and again.

When Kageyama kisses Hinata now, he doesn't really know what to expect. Hinata’s mouth tastes a little like blood, bitter and like iron, which makes sense, since he was bleeding yesterday. And when Hinata licks into his mouth, Kageyama can also taste salt on his tongue, which is really weird, and he pulls away.

“Salt?” He asks, and Hinata doesn't know what he’s talking about. “In your mouth, it tastes like- nevermind,” Kageyama mumbles, and realization dawns on Hinata’s face.

“Oh, yeah. I have to rinse with salt water, because it helps the gums heal faster,” he says, and Kageyama nods, even though it doesn't make much sense to him. 

“How long until you’re better?” Kageyama asks, and Hinata shrugs, realises they're done kissing and groans as he lays down on his bed. His legs extend over Kageyama’s lap, and Kageyama pinches the inside of his knee.

“I don’t know. It takes at least three days for the swelling to go down, so I’ll just be out until next week,” he says. Kageyama frowns at that, and Hinata must see, because he’s sitting up, now practically in Kageyama’s lap and he reaches up and flicks his nose with the best smile he can manage with his swollen face. “Do you miss me that much Kageyama?” he teases, and Kageyama just looks away. Nothing is said, and Kageyama looks back at Hinata only to find him staring at him more intensely than he was before.

“It’s weird,” he says finally, picking at his nails. “Like, you’re so loud, and it’s quieter in the gym now. Not so quiet, because of Tanaka and Nishinoya, but still, it’s… less,” he stammers. Kageyama looks over at Hinata just in time to see him scramble up and tackle Kageyama onto the bed and push his face into the crook of Kageyama’s neck. Kageyama pushes at Hinata’s shoulder, but gives in and stops faster than he’ll admit to.

“You’re so sappy, sometimes. Seriously, it’s gross,” Hinata mumbles, and Kageyama just huffs. 

“Whatever,” he mumbles, and they just stay like they are for a while, Kageyama underneath Hinata, one hand over the small of his back and the other poking his cheek until Hinata swats his finger away (“You’re ruining the moment!”). Hinata breathes right on Kageyama’s neck, and his hair tickles Kageyama’s jaw, but he doesn’t really mind as much as he says he does. Eventually, they do get up at Hinata’s offer to play video games for a little bit.

And when Kageyama is about to head home, Hinata walks him to the door with the peas (that aren't very frozen anymore) pushed against his face again and looks up almost expectantly. Kageyama just looks back, and finally Hinata moves one of the bags aside and tilts his cheek up and Kageyama knows now what Hinata is expecting and his face goes bright red.

Softly, Kageyama leans down and presses a kiss against Hinata's cheek. It's cool from where the peas have been held, and Kageyama lingers a little longer than he probably should before standing up straight again. 

But not for that long, because Hinata drops the peas onto the floor and grips Kageyama's cheeks tightly and practically jumps up to kiss him. 

Kissing Hinata, Kageyama knows, is already pretty great to begin with. He can pull on his hair and hold his small waist and even lift him up, if he really wanted to. But kissing Hinata now is slightly better, because when they kiss, Kageyama can cup Hinata’s swollen cheeks or press his tongue into Hinata’s sensitive mouth and hear the little sounds that leave Hinata’s mouth that Kageyama never really noticed before. So it's pretty awesome, and Kageyama knows there's nothing more he'd rather be doing than what he is doing right now; kissing Hinata in the doorway without really caring what would happen if his mother were to try to open the door.

(And if Kageyama accidently presses on Hinata’s cheeks too hard, or brushes his tongue against his gums in a way that makes Hinata wince in pain, Kageyama just kisses him longer to make up for it.)

**Author's Note:**

> I based like every experience on what I have been going through these past few days [minus kisses and a caring bf (*´ω｀*) ]


End file.
